I will be by myself this year. Dd and dh are at a soccer tournament. Boarding our animals has gotten very costly as the clan has grown, so I decided to stay home with them. My son will be going to a youth lock-in. So, I'm going to do the New Year's Eve KAL.

I'm learning how to knit. So far I am not sure if I like it much. Hannah my neighbor wanted to learn something new. Tennis would be nice. Only kidding I think I will be in a pile of yarn on New years possibly tossing it out the window.

We have kind of an odd tradition. We spend the week of Christmas and the week of New Year's at our place in Tennessee. The town here has one of those ball drop things and subsequent fireworks and the whole town is full of people. We avoid it, get some food we like to eat but wouldn't normally buy because it's bad for us, watch the ball drop and fireworks from our balcony 2000 ft above the town. At the stoke of midnight I bring out the conch horn and blow a few good honks and us and the people across the valley who we have never met and only hear from on New Year's exchange pleasantries and good tidings across the valley for a few minutes.

I am lucky to have a group of friends that live close in the neighborhood (a couple of blocks apart)... so as we have done for many years, we will walk across the street, everyone brings an appetizer... then we will spend the evening eating, drinking and visiting with those that are the closest to us in our day to day lives....

No way I will be in the streets driving... And we also know our friends make it home safe... I have given strict instructions to my son (18) that NO MATTER where he goes, he is NOT to leave... we had major discussion this afternoon.... We will have more before Monday, I can promise!I wish you all a New Year filled with love, friendship, prosperity, peace and health!!